Tourists flock to Chernobyl 25 years after disaster hit Ukraine

Tourists are flocking to Chernobyl, the site of the worst nuclear disaster in history, almost 25 years after the explosion at the Soviet-era nuclear reactor.

The 'zone', which lurks some 60 miles from the Ukrainian capital Kiev, has been described as one of the "world's unique places to visit" by US magazine Forbes.

The site attracted 7500 visitors in 2009.

A Geiger counter shows radiation levels 37 times higher than normal as a woman takes a picture in front of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant

Tourists pay £100 a day to visit the site, where radiation levels are thought to be around 35 times higher than normal.

After signing a form agreeing to anti-contamination rules such as not eating and smoking within the site, visitors are ferried by buses to the entrance of the zone, which is only open to those on tours or with special permission.

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Having photographed the infamous reactor, which is now covered by a cracked concrete shell, they then head to the abandoned city of Pripyat two miles from the nuclear plant, which was built to house its staff at the power station.

Tourists from Sweden take pictures of abandoned military vehicles in the 'zone'

Fifty thousand residents were evacuated from the city the day after the catastrophe, which occurred on April 26 1986.

Soviet-era signs still hang from buildings near a rusting fun park, books and toys lie scattered around, and hundreds of gas masks litter the ground.

One visitor, Belgian psychologist Davinia Schoutteten, told the news agency AFP that she was "a little bit scared" of the radiation, and planned to throw her shoes away after the tour.

Bobby Harrington, an Australian tourist, said the experience made her sad: "It's the voyeuristic element that I feel uncomfortable with."

Abandoned: A man photographs gas masks on the floor of a school in the deserted town of Pripyat

But other tourists said they see the site as an important reminder of a historical event.

"I always wanted to see this place, since it happened. It's a very important part of our recent history," said tourist Karl Backman, a Swedish musician.

"I do not think it's bizarre. It's no different from the Coliseum, where people died... or from Auschwitz. It's history," he said.

The nuclear explosion took place on at 1.23am, contaminating the then-Soviet states of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus, with the fallout also spreading to other parts of Europe.

The United Nations set the death toll at 4,000, but non-governmental groups have suggested that the true toll could reach tens or even hundreds of thousands.